Infrastructure must be up-to-date and inclusive

The foot overbridge under construction at Mira Road. Pic/Rajendra B. Aklekar

With a width of 23 metres, Mira Road station on Western Railway (WR) is set to get one of the city's widest foot overbridges and an elevated deck connecting east and west. The station has one of the highest-growing passenger traffic, seeing a daily passenger footfall of 1,31,764.

Most of the stations on the Mumbai suburban section are more than 80 years old and highly congested as the volume of commuters has increased manifold since commissioning. Through this project, selected suburban stations will be upgraded to increase passenger handling capacity. An official stated that the foot overbridge cum elevated deck at Mira Road connects east to west.

Having said that, one hopes that designers also factor in the differently abled whenever possible, as they upgrade infra. They too, are part of our demographic and this leads to a more equal city in every way.

It is vital that our stations stay focussed on improvement and upgradation as the number of commuters increases. Revamps are necessary for absorbing those numbers which leads to discipline and consequently a safer environment at these commuting hubs.

Commuters, too, have a responsibility to use these overbridges. These are meant to cross over and one cannot be haring across tracks, jumping over barricades to cross. Even with all the awareness and warnings, it is disappointing that we still witness track crossings, simply because commuters do not want to walk those extra few steps to access a foot overbridge or want to save a few minutes and think crossing tracks will serve that purpose.

The Railways are doing their bit and should be pulled up when they fall short. The people, too, need to ensure they follow rules and use not misuse or abuse acilities.